Adapted from Crown copyright materials. The original materials appear in Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools Ref: DfES 0423-2004 G

www.fionahogg.com

Active Engagement Techniques If you are interested, involved and appropriately challenged

then you are engaged with your learning

Why is it good for pupils to be actively engaged? • The have longer concentration spans

• They complete work on time

• They stay on-task

• They have few behaviour problems

• They have a good attendance record

• They develop higher self-esteem

• They make faster progress

• The develop a belief in their ability to improve and learn

• They encourage other pupils

• They work collaboratively

• They attain better at KS3, GCSE and beyond

Question: Which picture shows pupils who are engaged?

Answer: Who knows!

A pupil is engaged if they are constructing their own learning,

rather than simply soaking up information transmitted to them by their teacher

I know what I have achieved and how I’ve made progress

I connect new learning to what I

already understand

My teacher presents information to us in a

variety of ways

My teacher likes me to ask questions and try

out new ideas

I know what I am doing and why

I understand how I am thinking and learning

I know my work is good – and I enjoy doing it

I know that I am an effective learner

Effective

modelling

Share

objectives

Collabor-

ative

Learning

Effective

explaining

Effective

questioning

Apply

knowledge

independently

… so how can we encourage

pupils to construct their

own learning?

Adapted from Crown copyright materials. The original materials appear in Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools Ref: DfES 0423-2004 G

www.fionahogg.com

Deep learning

Top Tips for Active Engagement

Strategies for Active Engagement

Engaging with text Drama activities Use DARTs (Directed Activities related to Text)

Text completion (pupils predict deleted words, or phrases) Diagram completion (pupils predict deleted labels) Table completion (pupils completed deleted parts of table) Disordered text (predict logical order or classify segments) Prediction (predict next part of text) Underlining or highlighting (search text for words or phrases) Labelling (label segments of text that deal with different aspects) Segmenting (segment text into information units) Diagrammatic representation (construct diagrams from text) Tabular representation (construct table from text)

Speculative language (what would you do if ? Other options?) Improvisation using stimuli Thought tapping (freeze frame, ask pupils to speak thoughts aloud) Mime (show or interpret a key point without words) Hot seating (one person takes on a role, others ask questions) Alter ego (offer advice to a character) Forum Theatre (one group acts. The rest can stop the action and suggest improvement) Pupil in role/teacher in role (pupil or teacher take on a role in a given context)

Thinking Skills Writing tasks Classification (sorting information and justifying categories) Odd-one-out (important to give reasons, best if there is not one obvious odd one out) Maps from memory (group members individually look at a map on teacher’s desk and then feed back to group to redraw the map) Mysteries (information provided on small cards which pupils use to develop answer to a big open question)

Purposeful context (establish purpose and audience) Visual support (present information visually to explore ideas) Collaborative writing Writing frames (helps pupils to organise their thoughts)

Activate your pupils’ prior knowledge – help them to

connect new learning to old

Challenge your pupils – don’t bore them with tasks that are too easy and repetitive or too

hard and beyond their capability

Do group work – it will help your pupils to interpret, ask questions, speculate, explain their reasons

Give pupils the opportunity to reflect on how they are

thinking and learning

Your pupils will learn by converting information from one mode to another – so ask them to convert from

text to diagram, for example

Provide your pupils with structures to guide their thinking – a kind of scaffold

Your relationship with your pupils is very important. Create a warm, supportive environment in which pupils’ opinions

are heard, valued and respected by all.

Make sure that in your classroom wrong answers are welcomed – and the thought

process behind them used to learn

Have high expectations of your pupils – and let them

know that you do.

Create the right physical environment with colourful

displays which acknowledge the achievements of all pupils

Have clear routines and ground rules in

your classroom.

not accepting

new information uncritically

relating

evidence to conclusions

always examining the logic of arguments

relating ideas & information to previous

knowledge & experience

trying to understand and make sense of material

Using organising

principles to integrate

ideas